Arthur Quarantined
by Close to the Edge
Summary: COMPLETE On the last day of school, Arthur and his classmates are quarantined inside their school when a viurs breaks out inside the school that turns everyone who contracts it into mindless killing machines.  Who will make it out alive?
1. Chapter 1

Arthur Quarantined

Chapter One

It was the last day of school. The sweltering heat of the day and the excitement for summer were beginning to take their toll on the students of Mr. Ratburn's class. A big drop of sweat rolled down Arthur's forehead, across his cheek, and then plopped onto the floor in a little splash. Summer was about to arrive.

Arthur glanced at the clock. It seemed to tick by in an endless rhythm. He knew that the clock was his key to salvation. If time stopped, he would never get out of this school. Time hadn't exactly stopped for Arthur; it was just passing by very, very slowly. Arthur needed summer to arrive. He had been waiting for this day for so long.

He glanced around the room to check up on all of his friends. He looked at Buster, who looked just as ready to leave as he was. He caught Buster's eye and they both smiled. They were going to have a fun summer together. He spotted Francine, who had her head on her desk. When he looked over at Muffy, she was brushing her hair, obviously not paying attention to anything Mr. Ratburn was rambling on about. His eyes continued to scan the room and he spotted Brain, who seemed to be the only one in the whole class who actually was paying attention. Typical Brain. When his eyes passed over Binky's desk, Binky wasn't there. Then Arthur remembered Binky was probably in the bathroom, puking his guts out. The school lunch that day had not agreed with Binky's stomach at all.

Arthur spotted a little bug and watched it slowly climb up the wall. He was ready to leave now. School was in its final minutes of session. In his mind, Arthur wondered why Mr. Ratburn even bothered to teach the class on the last day of school, but of course he didn't ask that out loud. He didn't not want to end school on a bad note. So instead he just patiently watched the bug climb up the wall.

To get prepared for summer, Arthur started thinking about all the fun times he would have once this school day ended. Arthur thought about how he and his friends would do all sorts of fun stuff like go to the beach, go eat ice cream every day at the Sugar Bowl, and go on fun rides if a carnival came to town. Arthur then thought about the vacation he and his family would be taking to California. He was so excited to visit the beaches in California. Everyone had told him that the beaches he and his family were going to were absolutely amazing. Soon, Arthur got very lost in his thoughts about summer.

Suddenly, a horrible feeling gripped Arthur. His entire body froze, and suddenly he stopped seeing what was around him. His brain was filled with strange and terrifying images. He suddenly had the sinking feeling that he would never see his family again and that he would never leave this school alive.

The images died down, but he still had the horrible feeling in his brain. He didn't know why he thought that. Of course he would leave the school alive; summer would begin in a couple of minutes. Arthur felt relieved, but in the back of his mind he still had those terrible thoughts.

Arthur looked back at Binky's desk and noticed he still had not returned to the classroom. Binky had been in the bathroom a very, very long time. He wondered if he was still throwing up and whether if he was still sick. He didn't want Binky to be sick on the first day of summer. That would be a bad way to start the summer off.

Suddenly, the door to the classroom opened, and there stood Binky, standing in the entrance. Mr. Ratburn paused for a moment to look at Binky and address him.

"Feeling better, Binky?" Mr. Ratburn asked. "You may take your seat now."

But Binky didn't take his seat. Instead he stood motionless in the doorway, staring intently at Brain. Arthur suddenly felt very uncomfortable. He didn't know why Binky was waiting there, but he didn't like it. He suddenly had a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Sweat rolled down his forehead, but this time it wasn't from the heat of the day. Then Arthur thought he saw foam forming at the edges of Binky's mouth. Arthur was very afraid.

Then, without warning, Binky screamed a high-pitched scream and leapt at Brain. Brain gasped in shock and before anyone realized what was happening, Binky bent down and bit a chunk out of Brain's left arm. Brain hollered in pain and surprise while the rest of the class screamed in fear and shock. After a couple of moments, Mr. Ratburn decided to take action.

"What are you doing?" Mr. Ratburn screamed. He strode over to Binky, who after taking a bite out of Brain's flesh, was just standing there, foaming at the mouth. Mr. Ratburn looked down at Binky with pure anger on his face.

"Binky, you are in serious trouble young man! Report to the principal's office this instant!" Mr. Ratburn's screaming seemed to take no effect. Suddenly, Binky looked up at Mr. Ratburn. Then he leapt at him in an attempt to take a bite out of him. Mr. Ratburn jumped out of the way in the nick of time as the rest of the class screamed again. Arthur watched in amazement and fear at the situation.

Normally, Mr. Ratburn would never have used physical force on another student, but this was no normal situation. Mr. Ratburn grabbed Binky by the collar of his shirt and dragged Binky out of the classroom. He had some trouble due to Binky's struggling, but eventually he managed to get him out of the classroom. Mr. Ratburn then closed the door behind him and left the rest of the students to sit there in shock.

For a few moments, no one said a word. Brain was crying loudly due to the wound he had received, but nobody noticed his tears. They were all staring at the empty desk where Binky usually sat at.

Finally, Francine broke the silence. "Wow," was all she said, but she was speaking the thoughts of the entire class. Just that one word summed up what they were thinking. Eventually, people started to notice Brain's sobbing and a few students went over to comfort him. The rest of the class sat in stunned silence.

After what seemed like an eternity, Mr. Ratburn finally reappeared. He looked very flustered after what he had just been through.

"I'm very sorry for that interruption, class. Seeing as there are so few minutes left in the day, I'm not going to finish my lecture. You may do as you please until school ends, but please don't be too loud. I have to make a very important phone call." He wiped the sweat off of his brow and for the first time ever, no one in the class was relieved that Mr. Ratburn was ending one of his lectures early.

Mr. Ratburn picked up the phone on his desk and dialed a number. The rest of the class pretended they weren't listening, but in reality every single one of them was listening to Mr. Ratburn. Mr. Ratburn didn't notice that they were all really listening. He looked very nervous. Finally, someone on the other end of the line picked up.

"Hello. Yes, yes," said Mr. Ratburn. "I'm calling to report an instance of violent behavior committed by one of my students. Earlier this day, he ate one of the school lunches and became very, very sick. He was in the bathroom vomiting for much of the day. Eventually, he came back to class, but when he got here he viciously attacked one of my students. It took some effort but I eventually took him out of my room and brought him to the principal's office. It took some effort but we eventually managed to settle him down. Yes, that is exactly what happened. No, I'm not exaggerating anything." Mr. Ratburn began to look even more nervous. He waited nervously as the person on the other end gave their reply.

After the person on the other end of the line finished speaking, Mr. Ratburn put down the phone. He had a very grave expression on his face. He cleared his throat and turned to address the class.

"Class, I have some very bad news. I know how excited all of you were for the summer to begin, but I am afraid you will have to wait another few hours before you are let go. Unfortunately, I just got done talking to authorities, and they say it is not wise for any of us to leave the building before this whole issue is settled. I'm sorry to disappoint you like this class, but it is in everyone's best interest that we stay until authorities figured out what happened." With these words, Mr. Ratburn sat down in his chair and put his head in his hands. The rest of the class looked solemnly on.

A few minutes later, Arthur heard the sound of distant sirens. As the sound got closer and closer to the school, Arthur became more and more nervous. Arthur looked around the room to see if anyone else had the same bad feeling as he did, but most of them were still in shock over what had just happened to notice the sound. Eventually, the sound of sirens got very loud, and Arthur new the authorities had arrived. Suddenly, someone from outside spoke to the school in an amplified voice.

"We are asking all of you to stay inside the building where you are. You are not in any danger; we ask that you please just sit quietly until the situation is sorted out." Several students began to cry. They were all very scared now. They didn't know why they weren't allowed to leave the school.

Mr. Ratburn walked over to the window to pull the shades up. What they saw horrified them all. The school had been completely surrounded by cop cars. Several tough-looking men stood closer to the school. All of them were carrying guns. Mr. Ratburn tried to pull the shades down in time, but it was too late. Everyone had seen what was out there. Several students began to cry even harder.

"Now class," Mr. Ratburn said in an attempt to calm them. "I'm sure the authorities have everything under control. I'm sure they won't keep us in this building for longer than a few minutes. You'll get to leave soon, don't worry."

But they did not get to leave soon. As the seconds turned into minutes and the minutes into hours, they remained inside the school. Arthur could hear Mr. Ratburn begin to mutter to himself. He didn't hear what he was saying clearly, but he thought he heard Mr. Ratburn say "My God, we are being quarantined in this place." Arthur had heard the word quarantine before. He thought it meant trapped, but he wasn't completely sure. The only thing he knew for sure was that they wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.

Arthur stared down at his desk. So they were being quarantined now. He tried hard not think about it, but the creeping thoughts he had had earlier in the day about never seeing his family again started to come back to him. He tried to shake them out of his head, but there they remained. Arthur hoped his thoughts were wrong, but as time pressed on it seemed more and more likely that he wouldn't be leaving.

Arthur closed his eyes. Eventually, despite the situation he was in, he managed to drift off to sleep. His dreams were filled with dark and troubling images. They were just a taste of the terrors Arthur would have to face in a short while.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

After a few hours, Arthur woke up from his sleep. Almost immediately, he knew something was terribly, terribly wrong. As he rubbed his eyes and looked around the room, the first thing he noticed was that no one was there. The room was empty. The next thing he noticed was that it looked like a hurricane had just run through the room. Desks were overturned. Papers and pencils lay on the floor. Even Mr. Ratburn's desk, which was bigger than all the others, had fallen over. Arthur wondered what had happened here to make everything look like this. Then he heard a gasp from the corner of the room and turned to look at its source. In the far corner of the room Francine and Muffy were huddled together, clearly frightened. He had just noticed them for the first time and they had just noticed him waking up.

"Arthur, are you okay? Can you understand me?" asked Francine. Muffy and Francine nervously waited for a reply as Arthur stood up from the desk he had fallen asleep in.

"Yeah, I'm okay," replied Arthur. Arthur looked around the room one more time. "What happened here?"

"It was bad Arthur, really bad," said Muffy. Then she started to cry. Francine put her arm over her shoulder to comfort her then looked at Arthur and motioned him to come towards them. Arthur walked to the corner of the room and sat down with them.

"What happened here?" Arthur whispered as he sat down next to Francine and Muffy.

"Don't go towards the windows," whispered Francine. "The others outside might see you. We can't let that happen. Be very quiet. If any of them find out we're in here, who knows what might happen to us."

"You need to tell me what happened," demanded Arthur.

Francine took a deep breath. She looked as though she were planning her words carefully. Arthur could tell she was having trouble describing what had happened. Finally, she spoke.

"Like Muffy said, it was really bad," whispered Francine. "I'm sorry for not waking you earlier, but in the rush no one noticed that you had fallen asleep and afterwards when we were hiding here, we didn't want to risk getting up and bringing you to our hiding spot. We might have been seen through the windows. Now that I think about it, if any of them had looked, they would've seen you and come in here anyways…" Francine trailed off.

"I forgive you for not waking me up, just please tell your story," whispered Arthur.

"It all happened so fast. Not long after you fell asleep, Arthur, we all heard a terrible scream coming from somewhere in the building. Oh Arthur, I can't even describe it to you. It was the most horrifying thing I have ever heard in my life. It sounded like, well, I really don't know how to describe it. It was high-pitched, like the one Binky made, but so much worse. Well after that Mr. Ratburn ordered us all to get down under our desks. We all waited for something to happen. We heard the door shake like someone or something was trying to get in. We were all so scared. Finally, he burst through the door, Binky I mean. Apparently he had escaped from the principal's office. Arthur, I swear there was blood dripping out of his mouth. He ran into the room and tried to attack everyone. Then everyone tried to get out in a mad rush to escape. That's why the room is all messy like this. Muffy and I were so scared we hid in the corner hoping he wouldn't notice us. Binky must have not noticed you either because you were asleep. I don't know how you managed to not wake up after all of that but somehow you managed to stay asleep. Anyways, we've been hiding here for around half an hour. We've heard a few screams since that whole thing happened. Arthur, I'm really scared."

Arthur struggled to take Francine's story in. It was unbelievable. He couldn't believe that this had happened, on the last day of school of all days. Just one more day, and they would have been out of here. But now they were stuck here, with Binky on the loose.

"What do you think happened to him?" asked Arthur. "What could have made Binky act that way? And whose blood was dripping from his mouth?"

"I don't know the answer to any of those questions," replied Francine. "Honestly, I have no idea what's going on. I think it's best we just stay here for a little while."

"What if he comes back here?"

"Then I honestly don't know what we'll do. We'll try to escape I guess. But I don't want to think about that right now. I just want to stay here until help comes."

"You think help ever will come?" Arthur asked incredulously. "They've quarantined us here! We're not going to be leaving anytime soon!"

"What does quarantine mean?"

"I'm not exactly sure," replied Arthur truthfully. "I think it means trapped. I heard Mr. Ratburn using it when we all looked out the window and saw the cops surrounding our building. Speaking of cops, do you know if they're still there?"

"I'm not sure. I haven't looked out the window since we all saw what was out there. I don't know when they'll let us out. They haven't announced anything since they told us to stay inside. Maybe they're gone by now. Then we could leave." Arthur could tell that Francine didn't really believe they were gone.

"I guess that's a possibility," replied Arthur, though in truth he knew such a thing was too good to be true. "Maybe someone should crawl over to the window and check and see what's going on out there."

The three of them sat in silence for a few moments, none of them really sure of what course of action to take. Finally, Francine piped up again.

"I'll go to the window and check," Francine said nervously.

"No, I'll go," said Arthur. "You stay here with Muffy." Arthur could tell that Francine was grateful that Arthur was taking the risk.

As Francine huddled with Muffy in the corner of the room, Arthur slowly crawled across the floor to the other side of the room where the window was. He made sure he didn't do anything that would make any noise. He didn't want Binky or anyone else gripped by the sudden madness to come into the room and find all of them. Arthur shuddered at the very thought of it, but he knew that he had to reach the window and see what was outside before he did anything else.

As Arthur approached the window, yet another feeling of dread gripped him. He had the sinking feeling that not only was there still cops outside, but there were more of them. He had the feeling that the situation had gotten much, much worse. He finally reached the window. The shades were down. He hesitated before pulling the shades up, but he knew he had to find out what lay beyond the window. Taking a deep breath, he drew the shades up and looked out. What he saw horrified him.

Unfortunately, he had been completely correct when he got the horrible feeling that the situation outside was worse. The situation was much, much worse. There were dozens more cars surrounding the building. The police officers holding guns had been replaced by men in full protective suits. Arthur could tell this was now well beyond Elwood City's police force. The military was here. Arthur quickly lowered the shades and slowly crawled back to the hiding spot where Francine and Muffy were.

"I couldn't see what was out there, the window was too high," said Francine. "What's the situation?"

"It's much worse," replied Arthur. "It's not just the police out there anymore, the military is here too."

"Oh my God," said Francine. Then she started to weep uncontrollably. Arthur tried to comfort her, but to no avail. Now both Francine and Muffy were crying, and Arthur didn't know what to do to comfort them.

"Francine, Muffy, please listen to me," said Arthur as he put both of his hands on their shoulders. They both looked up at him, their faces soaked with tears. "Guys, listen to me. I promise you that everything is going to be alright in the end. I promise you that we are going to get out of this alive." Francine and Muffy both sniffled, but they both seemed to be listening to him. Arthur was relieved that they both trusted him. They were going to need to trust each other if they wanted to live through this ordeal.

"What should we do now?" asked Muffy. It was the first time she had spoken in a while.

"We're just going to wait here," said Arthur. "We're just going to sit it out. I say we wait here until something happens that forces us to leave. This is a good hiding spot, why leave it unless we have to?" Francine and Muffy both agreed with him, and they all huddled together, all of them wishing they were somewhere else.

They had decided to stay hidden until something happened that would make them leave their hiding spot. Unfortunately for them, they wouldn't stay hidden for very long.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

After waiting with Francine and Muffy in their hiding spot for a few minutes, Arthur knew he wanted to go against his plan to stay there until something happened. He knew he would go crazy if he sat still any longer, not doing anything about his situation. Then he saw Mr. Ratburn's phone that had fallen when his desk had overturned in the mad rush to escape. The phone gave him an idea. Maybe if they were lucky enough, the phone would still work and Arthur could call his parents.

Arthur began to crawl over to the phone, being careful to stay out of sight of the windows. Francine watched him, but said nothing. She knew what he was attempting to do, but had less hope in it than he did. Muffy had stopped crying but was too lost in her own thoughts to notice Arthur.

Arthur reached the phone. He picked it up and began to dial the number of his house. It would take a miracle, but he thought that he had a small chance of reaching his family. It would take another miracle, but maybe his family could come in secret and rescue them all from this horrible nightmare. It was worth a shot. The phone began to ring.

On the third ring, someone on the other end picked up. "Hello?" said a worried voice on the other end of the phone.

"Mom, it's you!" said Arthur into the telephone. "I'm so glad to hear you!"

"Oh Arthur," said Arthur's mom. "I'm so glad to hear you too, honey. I'm so scared. What's going on over at school? Arthur, there's people in our house. They say something went wrong at school and now they're not letting you leave! I begged with them to let me see you but they wouldn't let me."

"Mom," said Arthur, tears rolling down his cheeks. "It's horrible here! Binky went crazy, and now we don't have any idea of what's going on. People may be dead. Mom, please come and get us. Please!"

"Arthur! Oh my God, the men are coming. They're going to kill us Arthur. They said they don't want us to talk. They want to keep us quiet about what's happening to you so they're going to kill us Arthur. They're going to kill your father, D.W. and I. Please, Arthur, you have to make it out of that school alive. You have to tell our story so we don't die in vain. Now go Arthur, go! Oh no, they're here! Arthur, you have to-" Arthur's mom was cut off in mid-sentence. Arthur heard gun shots firing on the other end of the line and his mother's screams. He put the phone down with tears in his eyes.

Arthur slowly crawled back to the hiding spot, crying the whole time. When he got back, Francine didn't even have to ask what had happened, she quietly understood. Then she realized the same thing was probably happening to her family, and tears welled up in her eyes. Muffy was still lost in her thoughts and didn't notice the two of them crying.

"They're gone," said Arthur quietly. "They're all gone."

"I know," said Francine, and she put her arm over his shoulder. Arthur instantly felt better.

"We can't just stay here anymore," said Arthur. "We have to take action; we have to address the situation. We have to get out of this alive. For our families if for no one else. We need to tell our story."

"I agree," replied Francine. "We have to take action. I say we all leave this room and look for any other survivors. Surely Binky can't have killed everyone by now."

"There are probably others who have gone crazy besides Binky."

"I know that. I don't know why this is happening and why people are going crazy, but I'm pretty sure Binky isn't the only one anymore. I heard another kid walk by the room while we were in hiding. He didn't sound like he was normal."

"I say we look for others. If we're in a big group, the crazies will be less likely to attack us," said Muffy. She had been taken away from her thoughts and brought to the present with their conversation about what to do.

"I agree with Muffy," said Arthur.

"So do I," said Francine. "So I guess then that's what we'll do. Well, we better get started before everyone else is dead."

The three of them began to crawl towards the door of Mr. Ratburn's classroom. They made sure they made as little noise as possible. When they got to the door, the three of them hesitated. They were unsure of what lay beyond the door, and all three of them were scared to find out what was just out of sight.

"Who's going to make sure the coast is clear?" asked Muffy nervously.

"Arthur, you made the risk last time," said Francine. "It's my turn. I'll check to see if the coast is clear."

"Does that mean it's my turn to take the risk next?" asked Muffy worriedly.

"We'll see," replied Francine. Francine got up and slowly turned the doorknob. All of them held their breath. Francine took a step back and opened the door. There was no one waiting for them at the entrance. Francine slowly poked her head out of the classroom and looked to see if she saw anything. She turned her head left. No one was in the hallway in that direction. Then she turned her head to the right to see what lay there. She let out a little gasp then quickly pulled her head back into the classroom.

"What did you see?" asked Arthur.

"See for yourself," replied Francine.

Arthur and Muffy slowly got up and poked their heads out of the classroom. They turned their heads right and were horrified by what they saw. Down the hall they saw two students they didn't know and Binky Barnes eating the body of one of the other students. They couldn't completely make out the student they were eating, but they could make out the antlers on his head. They were eating George.

"George is dead," said Arthur, on the verge of tears. "I can't believe it. He was our classmate. He was our friend. And now he's dead." Arthur began to cry.

"I never wanted him to end like this," said Muffy, her voice shaking. "I thought his bloody noses were gross, but I never wanted his life to end like that." Tears welled up in her eyes and she also began to cry.

"Guys, we've got to stay strong," said Francine. "I know all of us are sad that George is dead, but we've got to stay strong. If we cry at every death that happens, we'll never get out of the school alive. We don't have time to mourn. Now let's move."

Arthur and Muffy wiped the tears from their eyes. They turned away from the body of George and the other students and started to make their way in the opposite direction. After taking a few steps, Muffy stopped in front of the door of a classroom.

"Guys, something isn't right," said Muffy. The other two turned to look at her. "Think about it. This school isn't that big. There are maybe twenty rooms, tops. And we've only seen four people since everyone left the classroom. Where do you think everyone is? Also, do you smell that? It smells like something died. Where is that smell coming from?"

"It smells like it's coming from inside that room," said Arthur, pointing at the door Muffy was standing next to. "It could be important. We should check it out."

"I don't want to go into a room that smells like that," said Muffy, but the other two ignored her. They went to the door. Arthur placed his hand on the doorknob.

"Are you ready for whatever's on the other side?" Arthur asked.

"Yes," replied Francine. "I'm ready."

"Muffy, if you don't want to come in here, you stay out there and keep watch. Tell us if you see anything out of the ordinary." With those words, Arthur opened the door. He and Francine walked inside.

At first, they didn't see the source of the awful smell, but then they looked in the corner of the room and saw a large pile of stinking bodies. On the bottom of the pile they saw Principle Haney, with many other bodies on top of his. Arthur turned away in disgust while Francine bent over, wanting to puke.

"This is an awful place," said Francine to herself. "An awful, awful place…"

"This must be where they bring the bodies when they're done with them," said Arthur, still not turning back to look at the pile.

"How many bodies do you think there are?" asked Francine.

"I don't know," said Arthur. "A lot. But I don't see anyone from our class. I only see people from other classes."

"Neither do I. I guess Mr. Ratburn taught us well. The only dead one from our class is George. The others must have turned crazy. Or they might be like us, wandering the school. We should go look for them if they're out there. This school isn't that large. We have to find someone eventually."

At the moment Francine finished her sentence, Arthur and Francine heard a scream coming from outside. It was Muffy. They both rushed towards the door.

"Guys, guys we have to go now!" screamed Muffy from beyond the door. "They're coming; they're coming to get us. There's so many of them, we have to go now!"

Arthur swung open the door and he and Francine ran out of the classroom. The three of them began running down the hall in the opposite direction of the coming crowd. They could tell no one in that crowd was in their right mind. They ran as fast as their legs could carry them, eager to get away from certain death.

"Guys!" Arthur screamed while they were running. "We have to hide in a room. We can't keep running from them forever. Let's duck into the next room we see!"

They kept running down the hall until they got to the next room. Arthur flung open the door and Muffy rushed into the room. Francine hesitated outside the door, unsure of what to do.

"Francine!" Arthur screamed. "What are you waiting for? Get inside now, before they catch up with us!"

Francine hesitated, and then looked Arthur in the eyes. "Arthur, you can go ahead and die if you want to, but I'm not going in there," said Francine. "I don't want to be trapped in a room again. I'll take my chances running." And with those words, she took off down the hall. Arthur didn't have time to change her mind. He quickly ducked inside the room and closed the door behind him.

Arthur looked around and saw Muffy hiding in the far corner of the classroom. Arthur quickly crawled over to her and sat down next to her. They heard the mob of people pass; they were still chasing after Francine. Then Arthur and Muffy realized they would probably never see Francine again. Francine had been Muffy's best friend and Arthur had secretly had a crush on her, but now they doubted whether they would ever lay eyes on her again. They began to cry and hugged each other for comfort.

"What should we do now?" asked Muffy after she had finished crying.

"I don't know, wait some more I guess," replied Arthur. He had run out of ideas.

"Hey!" came a shout from across the room. Muffy and Arthur turned and for the first time they spotted Fern. She was hiding in the opposite corner of the room.

"Hey!" shouted Arthur and Muffy back. "Come over here and hide with us! There's safety in numbers."

Fern slowly crawled across the room until she was next to Arthur and Muffy. She looked relieved to have found someone else.

"I've been alone since the mad rush out of Mr. Ratburn's classroom," said Fern. "I'm so thankful to have found you guys. I was beginning to go crazy being alone."

"We're glad we found you, too," said Arthur, and the three of them huddled in the same hiding spot, waiting for whatever would happen next.

As the three of them huddled together in the corner, Arthur thought about Francine. He was sad she had left them, but he hoped she was alive and had escaped the mob of crazies. Then he closed his eyes and cleared his mind of everything until he was only thinking about the situation he was in. Then, he began to formulate a plan.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

While Fern and Muffy huddled against him in the room, Arthur began to formulate his plan of action. His entire plan depended on finding one person: Mr. Ratburn. Arthur knew his plan was a long shot, but he knew he had to discuss it with his friends.

"Hey guys," said Arthur. "I think I have an idea." Muffy and Fern both turned to look at Arthur, eager for any idea at this point that would get them out of the situation they were in.

"Listen, here's my plan: we find Mr. Ratburn. Think about it. First of all, he's a teacher. He knows this school better than the three of us. If there were any secret escape routes, he would know about them. Second of all, when he made that phone call back in the classroom, I had a feeling that he knew what was going on. Lastly, he's an adult. He can protect us better than we can protect ourselves."

"But what if Mr. Ratburn is dead?" asked Fern. "What do we do then?"

"I don't think he's dead," said Arthur. "I saw a room where the crazies are storing all of the dead bodies they finished eating. He wasn't in their pile of the dead."

"They're eating people?" Fern asked, horrified. "I've been in this room the whole time since the escape from the classroom. I had no idea what was going on outside. I've just been hearing shouts and screams and assumed someone was attacking the school, but I didn't know anyone was eating people. That's horrible!"

"It is horrible," said Arthur sadly. "But it's the truth. Muffy and I have both seen it. Francine did too, before she left us."

"Francine abandoned you? How horrible."

"I can't really blame her. She wanted to run instead of hide from the crazy mob. It was her decision. I just hope she's okay."

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go find Mr. Ratburn and save our lives!" With those words, Fern started crawling towards the door to escape the room. Arthur and Muffy followed suit. They were halfway to the door when they heard a terrible scream from outside. The three of them stopped dead in their tracks.

"Don't go outside," whispered Muffy. "We have to wait until the coast is clear."

"Wait, something is wrong," said Arthur. "That didn't sound like the scream of one of the crazies. That sounded like the scream of a normal person getting attacked. We have to go out there and rescue whoever is being attacked!"

"Are you crazy?" asked Muffy. "Why should we risk all of our lives for the sake of one person? I say we just stay here until that crazy person has finished off the other one and finished eating him and has gotten out of here!"

"You two can sit around and argue, but I'm going outside and helping whoever's being attacked," said Fern. "It's the right thing to do." With those words, Fern got up and ran towards the door. Muffy and Arthur watched until Arthur joined her. Muffy was left alone. She didn't like being alone in this situation, so she decided to follow them outside.

Once the three of them were outside, they looked around to see the source of the scream. Down the hallway a little ways, they saw Brain being attacked by another student from another grade. Brain was screaming in agony, but he couldn't get away. He tried to crawl away from his attacker, but earlier that day a crazy Binky had taken a bite out of his arm. Arthur remembered witnessing that event in the classroom. It was before he had even known what was going on. In reality, he still didn't completely know. The one thing he did know was that he had to go help Brain. He ran to go ward off Brain's attacker, but Fern was already ahead of him. Muffy stayed behind, not wanting to risk her life.

As they got closer and closer to Brain, Arthur realized their foolishness. They had nothing to fight with. Still, saving Brain was the most important thing on the agenda. Fern was a surprisingly fast runner for a girl who read mysteries all day, and soon she had gotten to the scene of the attack. She kicked the student who was trying to eat Brain alive. The student stumbled, but didn't fall over. Fern attacked the student and they started to wrestle on the ground. Arthur got up to them and looked around for a weapon. Luckily, a sharpened pencil lay on the ground next to them. Arthur picked it up and prepared to attack.

"Fern, let go of him! I've got an idea!" Arthur screamed. Fern did what Arthur said and released herself from the attacker. She crab-walked away, making sure she had use of her legs if the crazy student tried to attack her again. Arthur went over to the student. Blood was dripping from his mouth. All traces of sanity were gone from his eyes. And that's where Arthur attacked. Arthur swung back his hand and plunged the sharpened pencil into the student's right eye. The student howled and pain. Arthur took the pencil out, taking the eye with him. He shook the eye off of the pencil and stabbed the left eye, but this time he went deeper. When he pulled the pencil out this time, the student fell to the floor, dead. Arthur had triumphed over one of the crazies. He felt proud of himself.

Brain got up shakily to his feet. He steadied himself and then looked at Arthur. "Thank you Arthur," said Brain. "I could have been a goner, but you and Fern saved my life. I will always be grateful."

"Oh, it's not a big deal," said Arthur, trying to brush off what he had just done. "After all, that's what friends are for." Arthur smiled. Brain smiled back. Fern got up and joined them.

"So, it is just you two?" asked Brain.

"No," said Arthur. "Muffy's with us, too." Arthur turned and pointed to where Muffy had been standing, but she was gone.

"Wait, where did Muffy go?" asked Arthur in confusion.

"She probably felt bad that she didn't help save Brain so she must have run off," said Fern. "That was a bad decision."

"I hope she's okay," said Arthur worriedly. "I keep losing people. First Francine now Muffy. I hope you guys stick with me."

"We will, don't worry Arthur," said Brain.

"Yeah, we got your back," said Fern.

"Thanks you guys," said Arthur. He was glad he had two genuine friends who wouldn't abandon him in a tough situation. "Now let's go back to the room where we can discuss my plan some more and explain it to Brain."

The three of them hurried back to the classroom where they again hid in the corner. Then Arthur discussed his plan with them about finding Mr. Ratburn. Arthur knew his plan was a good one when even Brain went along with it. If someone as smart as Brain thought it was good, it must be good. Then it dawned on Arthur that Mr. Ratburn could be anywhere in the school.

"Where do you think Mr. Ratburn would be hiding?" asked Fern.

"He'll probably be with a group of students," said Brain. "After all, he is one of the only authority figures left alive in this school. He will most likely be trying to protect the remaining students."

"I think Brain's right," said Arthur. "If we find a lot of students, we might find Mr. Ratburn."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Fern. "We don't have much time. Soon the whole school will be overrun with those things!"

The three of them slowly crawled to the door and peered around. The coast was clear. They slowly tiptoed out of the classroom and then began walking down the hall. There wasn't a sound in the air. It was strangely quiet. The only sound Arthur could hear was the sound of his footsteps. It started to scare him a little. It was too quiet. Arthur didn't feel right about what they were doing.

"Guys, it's too quiet," said Arthur quietly. "It's almost like they're not chasing after us. It's almost like they're waiting for us to come to them…"

At that moment, Molly MacDonald, or what used to be Molly MacDonald, leapt from the doors of a side classroom and snarled at them. The former member of the Tough Customers had become a member of the crazies in the school. Fern screamed and Brain gasped, but Arthur decided to take action. He ran towards Molly and quick as a flash stuck out his hand and plucked one of her eyeballs out. Molly screamed in pain and fell to the floor, writhing in agony. Arthur took her moment of distraction to turn back to his friends.

"Let's run, before more of them come to kill us!" With that, Arthur took off down the hall. He didn't have time to check if his friends were following him.

Arthur ran as fast as his legs could carry him. When he was out of breath, he collapsed onto the floor. He looked around. Luckily, there were no crazies around him. Unfortunately, neither of his friends were there with him, either. He looked around to see if they had followed him, but there was no trace of either Brain or Francine. Arthur slowly got up. There had been a fork in the hallway. Maybe they had gone the other direction. Arthur hoped they just hadn't caught up yet, but it was taking a long time.

Suddenly, Brain appeared. He was panting and out of breath, but he was alive. There was no sign of Fern with him.

"Brain, you made it!" exclaimed Arthur.

"Yeah, I did," said Brain. "Unfortunately, Fern seems to have gone the other way when she came to the fork in the hallway. I haven't seen her since we started running from Molly."

"Neither have I," said Arthur sadly. "I seem to be losing everyone who joins up with me. This doesn't bode well for you, you know."

"I know. You have a pretty terrible track record so far, but let's see if I can stick it out with you. We can survive this together."

"I'm not so sure anymore. Have you seen everyone? The crazies outnumber the normal people at this point. We may be the only two sane ones left in the whole school! Now what are we going to do?"

"We're going to stick with your original plan. No matter what happens, we still have to locate Mr. Ratburn. It's our only chance of making it out of here alive."

With those words, the two of them set down the hall, hoping to find Mr. Ratburn, not knowing that danger was just around the bend.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Arthur and Brain slowly started walking down the hallway. They didn't want to make too much noise in case one of the crazies happened to show up at a bad moment. Every time they came to a classroom, the carefully checked to make sure it didn't contain any of the crazies they were attempting to avoid. Classroom after classroom was empty. They all looked like a hurricane had been through them. Desks were overturned. Chairs had been thrown across the room. The worst part was always seeing blood on the walls and on the floors. In one room, Arthur and Brain saw blood on the ceiling. They could tell a lot of violence had gone down, but they tried not to think about that. Their main priority was finding Mr. Ratburn and getting out of the school alive. They only hoped they could find him.

Finally they came to a room with someone inside. In the far corner of the room, Sue Ellen was sitting in the corner of the room with someone in her arms. Sue Ellen was looking down and crying. The person she was holding didn't look like they were alive. Brain and Arthur slowly started making their way towards Sue Ellen, being careful to stay away from the windows.

Sue Ellen looked up and put up her fists, but put them down when she realized they meant no harm. "Guys, I'm so glad to see you," she said, wiping the tears away from her face. "It's horrible. It's unbelievable. I just can't believe all that's happened."

"Who is that?" asked Arthur.

Sue Ellen looked down. "It's Jenna. They tried to take her body but I couldn't let them. I don't know what they would do with it so I fought them off until they backed off and decided to leave me alone."

"Do you want to join us?" asked Brain. "We're looking for Mr. Ratburn. If anyone knows a way out of this school, it's him. If we find him, maybe he can help us escape."

"I think that's a good idea," said Sue Ellen. "And I think I know where he is. He was with me, but then he said he had to go. He said if I ever needed him he would be in the principal's office. I think if we head there, then maybe we have a chance at escaping."

"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Arthur. "We have to get there as soon as possible otherwise it may be too late. Let's go now."

The three of them slowly crept towards the entrance of the classroom. Brain poked his outside and looked around. The coast was clear so they slowly walked out and continued down the hall in the direction of the principal's office. Unfortunately, the principal's office was quite far from where they were. It would take a couple of minutes before they got there, and that was assuming they didn't run in to any of the crazies. Arthur had learned not to make any of those assumptions and set his hopes up too high. He knew they had a good chance of running into a crazy.

The three of them turned a corner and saw Fern standing in the center of the hall. Arthur remembered when she had gone a different direction running from the crazies with him and Brain. He hadn't thought he would see her again, but now here she was. Her back was turned towards them and they couldn't see her face or tell if she was a crazy or not. Suddenly, Arthur noticed that she was shaking all over. He then noticed a pool of blood was forming where she was standing.

"Fern, are you alright?" asked Sue Ellen as they slowly and carefully approached her.

Suddenly, Fern turned around. She had a crazy look in her eyes. Blood was dripping from her mouth. She had become one of them.

"Oh my gosh!" screamed Sue Ellen. Fern's eyes immediately darted towards Sue Ellen. Fern let out a high-pitched scream and started running towards Sue Ellen. Sue Ellen turned in the opposite direction and ran down the hall. Fern chased after her, forgetting about Arthur and Brain just standing there.

"I hope she can outrun Fern," Arthur said. In his mind, though, he knew it wasn't possible. He remembered how fast Fern had run when she was trying to save Brain.

"I feel so bad," said Brain. Fern was the first to try and save me, and now she's become one of them."

"How do you think you become one of them?" Arthur asked.

"Who knows," said Brain. It could be any number of ways. But let's not stand here and try to figure it out. We have to find Mr. Ratburn." Arthur nodded and they continued their journey down the hall.

After a couple of minutes, they finally reached the place they had been looking for the whole time: the principal's office. Both Brain and Arthur were very relieved to have finally found it. Maybe, just maybe, if they went in they would find Mr. Ratburn. Then they could escape this horrible place and never return to Elwood City.

"I'll look first," said Brain as he slowly walked towards the door. He slowly turned the knob and then opened the door. It seemed like no one was there, but the principal's office was a big room. Just because Mr. Ratburn wasn't in plain sight, it didn't mean he wasn't there.

Brain walked into the room and Arthur followed right behind. They both looked over the room. It was the bloodiest room either of them had seen. A lot of violent, horrible deaths had taken place there. Blood was smeared everywhere: on the walls, on the ceiling and on the floor. They even found a couple of human eyes and ears in some places. Arthur felt sick to his stomach, but he knew they had to keep looking.

Suddenly, a voice from behind a desk called out to Brain and Arthur. "Brain, Arthur, I can hear you," said the voice. "It's me, Mr. Ratburn." Suddenly, Mr. Ratburn stood up from behind the desk. Arthur and Brain had never been more thankful to see Mr. Ratburn in their entire lives.

"You're really here!" screamed Arthur. "I can't believe it!"

"Keep your fucking voices down," whispered Mr. Ratburn. "Do you want us to lose our fucking lives?"

Arthur knew he was serious when he said this. Adults only said bad words like that when they were serious. Suddenly, Arthur noticed Mr. Ratburn was staring very intently at Brain's arm, the one that had had a chunk taken out of it when Binky took a bite out of it in the classroom earlier that day. He saw Mr. Ratburn fish around in his pockets, and then to Arthur's shock and horror he saw Mr. Ratburn pull out a pistol.

"I'm sorry Brain, but this has to be done," said Mr. Ratburn. Mr. Ratburn raised the gun and pointed it directly at Brain's face. Brain didn't even have time to scream as Mr. Ratburn fired two rounds of bullets into his face. They tore through his skull and came out the other end. Instead of a face, Brain has a gaping hole where it should have been. Brain collapsed to the floor, dead.

"Why…" Arthur stammered, but in his shock and sadness he couldn't bring himself to finish the question.

"He was infected," said Mr. Ratburn calmly. "He would've turned on us eventually if we had let him live. His immune system must have been strong which is why he lasted so long staying sane, but he would've gone to the bad side eventually."

"How do you know?" asked Arthur.

"He was bitten. The craziness is transmitted through the bloodstream. Once the virus hits your brain, it makes you go on an insane killing rampage. Believe me, I know all about this. I just didn't think it would happen today of all days…"

Arthur could tell Mr. Ratburn knew more than what he was letting on. "Tell me what's going on here, Mr. Ratburn. I know you know the whole story."

Mr. Ratburn sighed. "Well, seeing as how probably neither of us will make it out alive now, I will tell you the whole story. It all began a couple of years ago. The government contacted the school and asked if they wanted to partake in an experiment. It may cost the lives of the kids, they said, but if they chose to do it the government would pay every staff member one million dollars every year of their life. It was an offer none of us could refuse. They told us they would put a virus in a food that could only affect kids, not adults. They told us we would be safe and that only the kids would come into harm's way. What they didn't tell us was that this virus was an experimental drug that they were working on to make kids into super-soldiers that were crazy enough to fight any battle. And that is why we're sitting here right now. We never knew that we would all end up dying as well and that we'd be trapped here so no one would tell of the horrors that went on here. If the crazies end up winning and we're all dead by the time this is through, then their drug will have worked. Their experiment will give them the results they want, but we will all have died."

"You selfish fool," said Arthur angrily. "You did it for the money but now it cost all of our lives!"

"There's still a small chance," said Mr. Ratburn. "If we can make it to the janitor's closet at the other end of the school, there's a secret passageway on the floor that few people know about. It leads into the sewers. If we can make it to the sewers without getting caught by those crazies, we can get past the government troops stationed outside and make our way to freedom. But in order for me to let you tag along with me you have to do everything and I mean everything I tell you. Understand?"

Arthur nodded that he understood, but he was secretly thinking that if Mr. Ratburn got him into danger he would do what was best for himself. After all, Mr. Ratburn was part of the reason they had all gotten into this mess. He really didn't think Mr. Ratburn deserved to escape, but now he had no choice but to trust him for now. He knew things might be headed in a bad direction, but the secret passageway in the janitor's closet was his only chance of escape.

"I'll do whatever you say," said Arthur. "I'll do whatever you say until we get to the sewers. Then we'll go our separate ways."

"Good boy, I knew you'd see it my way," said Mr. Ratburn. " Now it's time to get serious. As soon as I tell you to go we are going to slowly and quietly leave this office. I know we both know where the janitor's office is. If we run into any of the crazies, I am not going to defend you. You're just going to have to live with that. Now, it is time for us to depart. Let's go."

Arthur and Mr. Ratburn slowly crept towards the door of the office. They didn't hear any noises from outside, so they hoped that meant the coast was clear. Arthur slowly opened the door and looked outside. No one was there. He was now stuck with Mr. Ratburn until they found the sewers.

Arthur didn't know what lay ahead. He knew this awful day was nearing it's close, and that he needed to make it to that janitor's closet and escape once and for all. Whether he would achieve escape he did not know, especially with Mr. Ratburn by his side. But for the first time, Arthur had hope. He had made it this far, why couldn't he make it to the janitor's closet and escape? Still, Arthur knew he wasn't in the clear yet, in fact he was far from it. But he knew he had to try to get there. With thoughts of fear and hope in his head, Arthur set off on his final mission to find the janitor's closet and escape.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Arthur could feel that the end was near. He was slowly walking down the hallway hoping to get to the janitor's closet and escape this horrible nightmare. Mr. Ratburn was right behind him. He had made Arthur go ahead in case any of those deranged crazies came running to attack them. Arthur was quietly thankful that if any of them snuck up from behind Mr. Ratburn would be the one to die. After all, Arthur was pretty sure he deserved it because he had been part of the reason this whole thing had happened. What a selfish, evil man he was. If Arthur ever escaped, he would make this story famous and blame Mr. Ratburn for the evil that had happened here. But for now, he just needed to find the janitor's closet and escape.

It was completely silent except for the faint sound of footsteps as Arthur and Mr. Ratburn slowly crept down the hall. He wondered if anyone was still left alive besides the two of them. Brain would have been with them, but Mr. Ratburn had killed him. Arthur was seething with anger. He started to wonder why he even needed Mr. Ratburn coming along with him. After all, he did know where the janitor's closet lay, so why did he need Mr. Ratburn coming with him? But he wasn't about to try to escape. He remembered the gun Mr. Ratburn had pulled on Brain. He was too afraid of the same fate befalling him if he attempted an escape. So for now, he was stuck with Mr. Ratburn looking for the janitor's closet.

"In case you're wondering why I'm coming with you," Mr. Ratburn whispered, breaking the silence, "it's for your own good. Do you honestly think you could fight off a whole crowd of these things on your own? You've probably encountered only one or two at a time, three at tops. If you have encountered more than that, you probably ran away. But not this time. Let me tell you, the drug that was designed to make these kids super soldiers was also designed to have them come together as one army and take on anything. They have a hive mentality. They're like ants or bees. You don't fuck with an army of bees, you understand? You couldn't fight them off alone. I have this gun."

Arthur thought about what Mr. Ratburn had said for a while. "If they really are like ants, or bees, like a hive, if we kill the queen, will that stop all of them from doing any harm?"

"If we find the queen, which would be the first person infected with the drug. I believe that would be Binky. But let me tell you, we couldn't kill the queen with bullets, especially a queen like Binky. He was already strong before, but the drug enhances the queen to superhuman levels. He's probably gotten much bigger, and stronger. He controls the others with his thoughts, and tells them what to attack. If we run into him, we're done for. Let's just hope we don't run into him."

As soon as Mr. Ratburn had finished saying that, a howl broke loose somewhere from deep within the school. It was the worst sound Arthur had ever heard, infinitely worse than all the other horrible howls that had come before it. A few seconds later, another howl broke loose from somewhere close by. Soon, another one had started up. Howl after howl rang in Arthur's ears, until it seemed like there could be as many as a hundred. They sounded like deranged, dying wolves, but much worse. The howling lasted ten seconds, and then it died down. Suddenly, Arthur heard a great trampling of feet, like everyone in the school was marching somewhere. Arthur had a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something was terribly wrong.

"They're gathering," Mr. Ratburn whispered, and for the first time Arthur sensed a great fear in Mr. Ratburn. He could tell the howling had deeply shaken him. "That's the gathering howl," Mr. Ratburn continued. "They're going to all gather together, and then they're going to hunt down every last person in this school who isn't one of them and either kill them or make them one of their own. We don't have much time. We have to make it to the janitor's closet before they find us. It may already be too late. Hurry, Arthur, hurry! We need to get to the janitor's closet if we want to survive!"

With those words, Arthur and Mr. Ratburn started running down the hall. At that point, neither of them cared if they made any noise. It was all about making it to the janitor's closet. The crazies were on the hunt. The queen of the hive, Binky, was gathering them all together. Then they would sweep the halls of the school until every last person was eliminated or became one of them. Arthur was horrified by either of those things happening to him. He couldn't decide which one was worse. He would never want to die, but he also would never want to become one of those awful crazies. He tried not to think about the awful possibilities. His survival instinct kicked in. He was going to survive this no matter what.

"We're almost to the janitor's closet!" Mr. Ratburn screamed while they were running, and Arthur realized he was right. They were almost there. Once they got there, they could finally escape this horrible nightmare and be free. They would go their separate ways, because neither of them wanted to have anything to do with the other one. Arthur started running faster and faster. He could almost taste freedom. This was it. In a few moments he would leave this school and be free.

Arthur and Mr. Ratburn turned the corner and stared down another long hall. In the middle of the hall on the left side, stuck between two rooms, was the tiny janitor's closet. It was their freedom. Both Arthur and Mr. Ratburn started running towards it at top speed. Every moment that passed was another moment they came closer to freedom. When they finally got to the janitor's closet, they were both panting and sweaty. But they had finally reached safety. They had finally reached freedom.

"We did it," Arthur panted, sweating buckets. "I can't believe it, but we actually did it. We're going to be free." Arthur looked up into Mr. Ratburn's cold eyes. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go." Arthur moved his hand towards the doorknob to open the janitor's closet, but Mr. Ratburn grabbed his wrist in a tight grip and wouldn't let him touch the door.

"About that," Mr. Ratburn said with a cold smile. "While we were running here, I've been thinking long and hard. And I realized, if we both escape, we're going to be free to tell the story of what happened here. If you escape, I know for a fact you're going to pin this entire thing on me. I'm going to be the villain, and I'll probably be forced into hiding, while you're celebrated as a hero. However, if I escape, there will be no one left alive to blame anything on me. I'll write the story and I'll be the hero. I'll say I did everything I could to save you, but in the end it was too late. So Arthur, I'm sorry it has to end like this, but you leave me with no other choice." With the hand not holding Arthur, he pulled out his gun. "Goodbye Arthur. It's been nice knowing you, and you should consider yourself lucky for making it this far, but it has to end sometime, doesn't it? Don't worry; I'll portray you in a good light in my book of what happened here. Who knows, it may even be a bestseller." Mr. Ratburn lifted the gun and aimed it right between Arthur's eyes. Arthur knew this was the end. It was so unfair. After all he had been through, after all he had seen, and Mr. Ratburn was going to be the one to betray him and kill him. Arthur closed his eyes. He hoped the bullet went through his brain quickly and it was over fast. He didn't want to die a painful death, like all the others had.

Suddenly, a scream came from the end of the hallway. "Don't you dare fucking touch him!" Both Arthur and Mr. Ratburn turned to see who it was. Running down the hallway towards them was Francine. She was alive. Arthur opened his mouth in shock. Francine had lived! In the moment of confusion, Mr. Ratburn let go of Arthur, and that's when Arthur took his chance. He leapt towards Mr. Ratburn and toppled on top of him. The gun skidded away from them and towards Francine. Francine picked it up and pointed it towards Mr. Ratburn, but Mr. Ratburn took Arthur and put him in front of him like a shield.

"Don't think your aim is so good, Francine," hissed Mr. Ratburn. "Try shooting me, and you'll shoot your beloved Arthur instead." Mr. Ratburn was gripping Arthur around the neck. It was impossible for Arthur to breathe. His face was turning blue as Francine stood there, figuring out what course of action she should take.

Suddenly, another but infinitely more horrible scream came from down the hallway. The three of them turned to look at what it was. They saw the sight they never wanted to see: the army of crazies. They had found them, and they were slowly advancing upon them. In his fear, Mr. Ratburn let go of Arthur for a second time. Arthur ran towards Francine's side as she held the gun at Mr. Ratburn.

"This is what you fucking deserve you evil fucking prick," Francine hissed at Mr. Ratburn. She lowered the gun at Mr. Ratburn's left kneecap and fired. Mr. Ratburn shot to the ground and howled in pain. His left leg was immobilized. Francine pointed the gun at his other kneecap and fired again. Both of his legs became immobilized. He could only crawl with his arms. Mr. Ratburn rolled over in pain and Francine shot at the middle of his back. Mr. Ratburn screamed again. He was now completely immobilized from the waist down.

"I hope they fucking get you, and I hope you die the worst death anyone has ever gone through. It's what you deserve," snarled Francine. She then turned to Arthur. "Quick, they're advancing on us. I know we have to go to the janitor's closet, I saw the whole thing with you and Mr. Ratburn. Sorry I didn't come to your rescue earlier, I was trying to figure out what I should do. Then I decided to just come screaming at Mr. Ratburn. I guess it ended up working. Now let's get out of here!" With those words, Arthur and Francine opened the janitor's closet, ran inside, and locked the door. They could hear Mr. Ratburn moaning in pain outside as the army of crazies slowly advanced on him.

"Do you think we should help him?" whispered Arthur to Francine inside the janitor's closet.

"No, he'll try to kill one of us again," said Francine.

"I wonder where the way out is," said Arthur. "Let's look for any openings or exits. We have to find the way out." Francine and Arthur quickly felt the walls and floor, looking for the exit. Arthur found it in the center of the janitor's closet. It was a small hatch that had a ladder going down to the bottom. Arthur could tell from the smell that the bottom was the sewer Mr. Ratburn had been talking about. Francine started climbing down and Arthur followed suit. They could hear the screams of Mr. Ratburn as he was devoured by the army of crazies. Arthur cringed and tried not to think about what was happening up there. Finally, the two of the reached the bottom. They were in the sewers.

They were finally free.

Arthur gasped. He couldn't believe he and Francine had made it, but they had. Arthur looked back on everything that had happened. On Binky going crazy. About finding Francine and Muffy together. About George being slaughtered. About Mr. Ratburn being evil and shooting Brain. About Muffy running away. About finding Fern and seeing her turned into a crazy after she had been so courageous in helping Brain. About finding Sue Ellen and then having her run away, too. And about almost being killed by Mr. Ratburn, being saved by Francine, and then escaping.

It had been one crazy day.

Arthur had expected this moment of freedom to be filled with emotion, but he felt numb. He knew he would be flooded with emotions later, but he was still in shock. Finally, he turned towards Francine.

"What happened after you ran away?" he asked her.

Francine shook her head. "It was crazy. I saw everyone either dead or a crazy. It was horrible." She shook her head again. "I thought you had died Arthur, but you were the only one I didn't see, so I had a hope that you were alive. I'm so thankful you're alive. Now let's get the fuck out of here. Sorry I've been swearing so much, but this is just a really fucking tense situation."

"Believe me, I know what you mean," said Arthur, and for the first time that day, he smiled. He was free, and he was with Francine. He was glad to be alive.

As they began walking down the sewer and towards freedom, Arthur didn't even notice the smell of the sewer. He was looking towards the future. He knew what had happened here was evil, and he knew the truth had to be known by everyone. Everyone needed to realize how corrupt the system was that it would allow something like this to happen. He needed this story to be heard, but he wouldn't write it alone. He would write it with Francine. He would tell his version of events, and she would tell hers. It would be a long, difficult process writing their story, but Arthur knew it had to be done. These events had to be written down. He smiled at Francine, and she smiled back. He took her hand, and they continued walking through the sewer, into the future, and into freedom.

THE END


End file.
